Scars and Syringes
by potterheadXD
Summary: An accident at 7 leaves Harry unable to eat and with extensive scarring. Horribly abused and vowing never to let anyone close, he goes to Hogwarts and gets sorted into Slytherin. Professor Severus Snape, along with a few first years, have to figure out this small boy before he tips over the edge of insanity and shatters. AU, Profanity.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One.

Stares.

They were all watching him, every eye on him - staring, observing, judging, condemning. Whispers accompanied the hall.

'Potter, did she say?'

'The Harry Potter?'

'Why's he limping?'

'Where's the scar?'

'Blimey, what happened to his face!'

The musty hat smelt of parsnips and dust, and his vision was blocked as it dropped over his eyes.

_Ahh, Mr Potter,_ the hat whispered._ Interesting... you'll be a hard one, I see... there's loyalty in there, plenty of intelligence... think before you act, you're no Gryffindor... Cunning, sly as well... you dont have the drive for a Ravenclaw... a thirst to prove yourself, I see... Well then, better be SLYTHERIN!_

The hall was completely silent. Harry removed the hat and trotted off down the hall to the silver and green table, hoping no-one noticed his limp. Not a single sound could be heard - was it really such a shock? Still no-one clapped, so Harry raised an unimpressed eyebrow at table he was sitting at. A large Slytherin boy, looking around 15, began to clap, and slowly the hall picked up, although much quieter than anybody elses cheers. Taking a seat by a small, brown-haired girl who had been sorted a moment before him, he raised his eyes to the staff table. A sallow man with a hooked nose and lank black hair was watching him in complete and utter shock.

'Hello,' the girl next to him said, her crisp aristocratic voice breaking his gaze from the professor. 'Pansy Parkinson. Good to meet you.' She held out her hand, which Harry took to shake properly. 'Harry Potter,' he greeted in his hoarse voice. 'Although I'm sure you already knew.' The half of his face that wasn't mutilated by thick scars lifted into a smile, producing the crooked smirk he had possessed since seven years old.

'Excuse me for asking,' Pansy said apologetically. 'But how did you get those burn scars?'

'Fire,' Harry smirked. 'Isn't that how you get most burn scars?' Pansy pouted, but Harry saw a spark of amusement in her eyes.

'By the way, that's Professor Snape who you were watching before,' Pansy explained. 'He's head of Slytherin house, and the potions teacher. I've heard he's lovely to Slytherins, but a bastard to the other houses. Most of the teachers don't like our house you see, as You-Know-Who came from Slytherin, so he cuts us some slack where the other teachers don't.'

When the sorting had finished, Dumbledore stood up and greeted the students, finishing with, 'Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!' Plates and plates of food appeared in front of Harry, who looked at it longingly.

'Why aren't you eating, Harry?' Pansy asked. 'There's loads of food here! And it's all healthy too - Professor Snape makes sure all of us have proper nutrition, unlike other houses.' She cast a look of disgust at the Gryffindor table, who Harry could see were all stuffing their faces without even picking up a knife and fork.

'I can't,' Harry said matter-of-factly. 'I inject nutrients instead - and don't bother asking why.

Pansy looked shell-shocked. 'Oh my god,' she whispered. 'That must be awful! I feel terrible now.' She glanced down miserably at her plate.

'It's fine, go ahead,' Harry reassured. 'I wouldn't want anyone to go hungry because of me.'

In the common room, Pansy and Harry were standing together, watching as the tall, sallow man, Professor Snape, billowed in.

'Good evening, young Snakes,' he said in a deep voice. 'My name is Professor Severus Snape, Potions Master and Head of Slytherin House. While in Slytherin house, you will be expected to follow certain rules.'

His eyes looked down upon all the first years, black and deep.

'Firstly,' he began, 'if you have a quarrel with a member of your house, it is to be kept inside the common room. Our greatest strength is our unity, and we will show no weakness. Secondly, every one of you is required to eat a healthy amount at meals, and eat politely, unlike the slobbering savages at Gryffindor table.' His eyes paused on Harry as he said this, before carrying on. 'All first years are to be in bed by 9 o'clock, and will rise at 6.30 in the morning. Showers are mandatory. None of my students will walk around smelling like hippogriffs. If you are having trouble with homework or another class-related problem, see Zephyr Stevens and Shannon Towers, your prefects. They are here to help. The same goes for issues with bullying, sleeping, eating and the like. No-one is to be out of the common room after curfew - I am kind to you all out there, but in here, you get away with nothing. And lastly, the dorms are separated by gender - that is not to be challenged. I have set alarms in your dorms to inform me if someone is awoken in the night. I am aware many of you will become homesick,' here his eyes flicked to a pale, blonde haired boy, 'then you come to me and I shall arrange a floo visit. I hope you all do well in Slytherin. Potter, stay behind, the rest of you are dismissed.'

Pansy gave Harry a comforting look, before scampering off behind the rest of the first years. Taking a deep breath, Harry stepped up to the tall professor.

'Sir?'

The man looked at him with slight dislike. 'Potter, why did you not touch your plate at dinner? Is Hogwarts food not up to your standards?'

In his rough, ragged voice, Harry explained his situation. He lifted up his top to reveal a patch of milky white skin that had a black ring inserted into the area. Snape lowered himself to examine it. The ring had a three centimeter diameter with a small hole in the middle, just the right size for the end of a syringe.

'I see,' the professor said, surprise and curiosity evident in his eyes. Then they narrowed to look at Harry. He fidgeted, the man's gaze making him feel transparent, but then he said in a low voice, just loud enough for Harry to hear,

'I expected you to be just like your father. So far I am somewhat dissuaded of the notion - but prove me wrong.' He rose gracefully from his heels, leaving a small and surprised Harry Potter.

**So? Like? Hate?** **Reviews are food for my soul ;) should I continue?****  
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	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two.

Up in the dorms, Harry sat on the only bed that was unoccupied. The other boys in the room watched as Harry pulled up his shirt. Smiling slightly at their gasp as they saw his ring, Harry opened his trunk and pulled out a plastic syringe and a container full of thick pale pink liquid.

'What the bloody hell are you doing?'

Harry raised an eyebrow at the boy who had spoken. 'Goyle, is it?' He said darkly. The rather large boy nodded dumbly. 'Well,' Harry continued. 'Not that it's any of your business, but what I'm doing is eating - filling my stomach. I'm sure you're familiar with the action - maybe a bit too familiar.' The rest of the room snickered, but Goyle didn't get it, so just nodded and turned back to his bed. He set his alarm to go off at 5.30, so he could shower before the rest of them. It wouldn't do for the others to see his scars.

Harry pulled the curtains around his bed and changed into a large shirt to sleep in. Hissing slightly at the pain on his back, he readjusted the pillow so that it didn't touch his back, before pulling a blanket up and falling into a deep sleep.

Severus Snape didn't know what to do.

He hated not knowing what to do.

Potter had shown up with the left side of his face covered in thick, matted scars. It wasn't a pretty sight. His hair was just like Potters, but he didn't wear glasses and many of his features screamed Lily Evans. He had her exact button nose and the same angular face, and her eyes - it was like Lily was trapped in the eleven year olds body and was staring out of him. But there was something unnerving about them as well. They were full of pain, anger and hate. So much hatred!

He also had a prominent limp in his left leg. He was thin and short, and his left eye seemed somewhat dead. The boy couldn't eat, for merlins sake!

And then, to top it off, the boy had been placed in Slytherin. HIS house. Dear Merlin, what happened to the boy in his short life to make him so damaged? Definitely not broken yet, lord no, but he wasn't far away. Something was up with the boy. And he was going to find out what.

Speak of the devil... an alarm had just gone off. One of them was awake and out of bed in the morning at 5.30! Merlins sake!

Of course it was Potter.

Severus got to his feet and pulled his outer robe on, rubbing sleep from his eyes. Just because he woke early didn't mean he wanted to get out of bed! Grumbling to himself, he hastily left his quarters and began the short walk to the Slytherin common room.

'Basilisk,' he spat at the portrait, which swung open. Slipping in and clicking the door shut, he strode up and into the boys dorm.

Draco, Zabini, Goyle and Nott were all still asleep, but Potter was nowhere to be seen. However, he heard the running of a shower, so walked in that direction. An Alohamora later, he was in.

Potter was testing the water, his naked form extending an arm under the stream of water. Severus stood stock still, staring at the small body.

Burn scars covered the left side of his body - around his shoulder, under his armpit, over his hip and down the sides of his thighs and calves. A warerproof bandage had been placed over the hole in his stomach. White scars laced his back, a lattice of artwork, some old enough to barely blend in and some so fresh they glared out from the bony back, bright red and weeping. The boys left leg was terribly disfigured - excluding the burn scars, the majority of his thigh was scar tissue, his knee knobbly and marred.  
Bruises, from yellow to purple, littered his chest and torso, and Severus could see angry red scars on the boys bottom.

A gasp left his throat, and Potter looked up. His eyes widened, and he gripped the white towel off the rack and stuck it around his body.

'Sir?' He questioned in that rough voice. 'Did you need something, because I'm sure you wouldn't have burst in here and invaded my privacy if it wasn't urgent.'

'My alarms went off,' Severus explained, feeling somewhat stupid, glad his voice didn't shake. 'I was informed you were out of bed.'

'I didn't want to shower with the other boys,' he said sharply. Severus could remember when he was a child - he didn't want the other boys to see his belt scars either. Of course, Potter had a lot more to hide, but it didn't mean he had to be so disrespectful! There was some James Potter in there yet.

'You will address me as Sir or Professor, Mr Potter,' he said darkly. 'You are excused today, but you will shower at the same time as the rest tomorrow.'

Potter nodded brusquely. 'Of course sir. May I shower now?'

'Indeed, Mr Potter,' Severus murmured. With that, the Potions Master turned and left, his mind abuzz with curiosities.

Harry groaned once the professor left, barely refraining from banging his head against the shower wall. That was so embarrassing! He turned a hateful eye on the mirror. God, he was so ugly...

Turning away from the mirror, Harry eased the right side of his body into the shower, before cooling the water and easing the other side in. Four years later and the burns still screamed at hot water.

Soaping his body down, Harry scrubbed at his skin, massaging his left thigh so it wouldn't stiffen up again. The water cascaded down his back, soothing the welts after the initial sting, pooling around his feet. Finally, he could have enough hot water to shower properly!

Harry's last ten years had sucked. After the accident that broke Dudleys arm and crippled Harry, Vernon had began taking all of his rage out on Harry. Petunia had become nicer to Harry - using the monthly payment they received to buy his supplements, purchasing him real clothes and moving him into the comfy second bedroom of Dudleys. Then, halfway through last year, Vernon found out she had been cheating on him. He hit her, and she hit him over the head with a skillet before storming out.

A month later she came to visit Harry for an hour while Vernon and Dudley were gone. She brought him his supplements and told her about her new partner, who she loved with all her heart. She looked better too - not as scrawny, her face much softer and happier. Also, she was pregnant - 3 months along, and having a baby girl. She was 36, so still able to have a healthy child.

She visited once or twice a month, occasionally bringing her fiance, and then her daughter Jessica Lily Pearson. Once she'd gotten a job working at a sewing factory, she brought him treats. When he told her of Hogwarts, she seemed sad yet happy at the same time, giving him a years worth of 'food' and promising to keep in touch.

But, life with Vernon and Dudley was hell. They burnt everything Aunt Petunia had bought him and moved him back to the cupboard. Then Vernon had found a new woman, a freakishly religious one called Patricia who put crosses up all over the house and screamed at him for being an abomination, devils spawn, and then dropped to her knees and prayed for him to be untainted. Harry fought back at both of them of course - kicking and punching back, scratching at ankles when he was knocked to the ground. It was Aunt Petunia who had to take him to Kings Cross Station. He knew she would take him in if she could - after all, she had legal custody of him - but her fiance had just been fired and until he got another job, they could only function with one child. Harry told her he understood.

'Potter!'

A yell shook him from his thoughts as he wrapped a towel around his waist. A sharp rap on the door came with another yell.

'Get out of there, Potter! Other people have to shower too!'

A sharp voice rang out just after.

'Leave off, Zabini, let him have some privacy.'

Harry pulled his robes on, slinging the towel over his shoulder and walking out. He saw Zabini give him a glare, but he just sneered back.

A pale boy with sharp features and silver hair was sneering at Zabini. 'Bloody prat,' he muttered under his breath. Harry snorted, and the blonde looked up, eyeing him with a calculating gaze. A moment later he stuck out his hand. 'Malfoy,' he said in a bossy voice. 'Draco Malfoy.'

Harry took the hand and shook it. 'Harry Potter.'

The blonde smirked. 'I know,' he stated, before leaving to shower. Pulling out two syringes, a milky white one and a pale pink one, he inserted them into his stomach, wincing slightly at the cold sensation. The white was to be taken at breakfast only - it gave him energy and calories. The pale pink liquid was for every meal, as it had the nutrients and supplements of one square meal.

Finished with 'breakfast,' Harry quickly searched for his Slytherin tie, pulling it on before getting ready to head to the great hall.

Harry's first class of the day was Transfiguration with the Ravenclaws. It was only Harry and a girl with bushy brown hair, Granger, who managed to get it right and turn the toothpick into a needle. Harry was sitting next to Pansy and Draco, who were educating him on wizarding family and society.

'And because you're a pureblood,' Pansy said, but Harry interrupted.

'No I'm not,' he said. 'My mother was a muggle-born. I'm half-blood.'

'No,' Pansy said. 'There are books on you, Harry, they talk about your parents too. Your mothers parents were both squibs from valuable wizarding families. Your mother was the rejuvenation of the Evans line.'  
Harry was quite shocked. 'So, I have to learn all these customs?' He said dejectedly, his heart sinking.  
'Of course,' Draco said. 'In fact, you shouldn't have been placed with muggles in the first place - a good pureblood family would have done. You should mail Gringotts and ask for a copy of your parents will.'

So Harry did.

That very night at dinner came an owl from Gringotts. With Pansy and Draco over his shoulder, he read it.

Dear Mr Potter,

Please find enclosed a copy of your parents Last Will and Testament, which was heard by Albus Dumbledore. Mr Dumbledore was in charge of making sure the will was carried out.

Sincerely, The Goblins of Gringotts.

We, James Charles and Lily Marie (nee Evans) Potter, being of sound state and mind hereby leave our Last Will and Testament.

To Severus Tobias Snape, we leave 2000 galleons and Vault 668. Use it well - those potions ingredients were hard to find! Sev, don't forget - you are a good man.

To Molly and Arthur Weasley, we leave 10,000 galleons. You'll need it if you have any more of those redheaded monsters - er, we mean children.

To Sirius Orion Black, Peter Piper Pettigrew and Remus Equius Lupin, we leave the vault entitled Marauders. Solemnly swear you are up to no good.

To Petunia Evans, we leave $2000 pounds and the chest in Vault 883.

To Narcissa Black, we leave the photo album in Vault 883 and the reminder to stay true to yourself.

And to Harry James Potter, we leave Godrics Hollow, the two Potter vaults and all of our love. We will be forever proud of you, darling.

In the event of our death, Harry shall be placed with

-Alice Longbottom (godmother)

-Sirius Black (godfather)

-Severus Snape (honorary godfather)

-Narcissa Black, unless she is with Darius Zabini (honorary godmother).

Harry placed the letter down and sent a cold glare at the headmaster. If the man had ensured the will had been obeyed, he wouldn't have had to live with Vernon for ten years. He wouldn't have been in the accident that disfigured him, and he could have grown up knowing about magic!

'Harry, calm down!'

That was when Harry realized the windows were all shaking and rattling. He forced himself to calm, before getting to his feet and leaving the hall, ignoring the calls of Draco and Pansy.

Harry was in a rage, finding the first empty classroom he saw and slamming the door shut. Howling with rage, he began to attack the room, upturning desks and throwing desks, punching the walls and tearing the carpet, until the door opened.

Professor Snapes head narrowly avoided a chunk of wood from hitting his head. He crossed the room and placed two hands on Harry's shoulders.

'Potter,' he ordered. 'Calm down, child.'

The boy looked at him with a sulky face.

'Now,' Severus continued, 'What has you all riled up? Don't sulk.'

Harry thrust a hand in his robe pocket and pulled out an official looking letter, holding it out to Severus and biting his lip. Severus narrowed his eyes at it, before delicately opening it and scanning the contents.  
'I see,' he murmured. 'And this makes you angry because?'

'Because it means I wouldn't have had to grow up with the Dursleys,' he spat viciously. 'And I can't even cast a good curse on them in summer either.'

'What was so bad about the Dursleys?' Severus asked. 'And why would you want to curse them?'

'Well,' Harry said darkly, moving forward so that his lips ghosted over Severus' ear and hot air grazed his neck, 'They hurt me first. Why shouldn't I hurt them back?'

And with a cold half-smile that sent chills down Severus' spine, he turned and left, leaving a chill in the room.  
Severus didn't even notice the sound of the door clicking shut.

**Long enough? Hehe thanks sooo much for all the reviews! :O shocked! sorry for taking a while I had this written ages ago but ive been camping for the last 5 days :L how fun... Ha. Ha. Ha.**

**Is this story going too fast? I don't really enjoy writing classes so I skip a lot... should I include more? Is Severus OOC? Or Draco? **

******Reviews are good for the soul ;)**


	3. Update

Hello,

I'm Dominic, Heidi (potterheadXD)'s older brother. She has asked me to tell everyone that she's in hospital having a kidney transplant - donated from yours truly ;) but now I have her login for a few days until she can change it :D Who knew she had such a _scandalous_ password? Anyway, she'll be out of hospital in four or five days. I got to come home yesterday ^.^ and she won't be going out much so she'll be sitting on her ass doing nothing but writing for a while!

Thanks :)


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